Drugs, alcohol cited in fatal Gloucester wreck

Hedrick says he's 'deeply sorry'

November 07, 2012|By Matt Sabo, msabo@dailypress.com | 757-247-7872

GLOUCESTER — A Gloucester man who tested positive for cocaine, opiates and marijuana was also driving drunk at the time he caused a wreck that resulted in the death of one man and left a teenage girl seriously injured, according to court records. The crash came just seven months after he was released from probation for a drug conviction.

Jeremy Shane Hedrick, 40, of the Ark area of Gloucester, was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Friday in connection with a wreck that occurred on Oct. 27 about 5 p.m. on Route 17 near the intersection of Willis Road. Donald Troy Durham, 46, of Gloucester, died of his injuries on Oct. 29. Durham's teenage daughter remains hospitalized in Richmond.

In a phone interview, Hedrick said he is "deeply sorry for the guy who got killed and his daughter who got hurt."

Hedrick said he has struggled with addiction his whole adult life and after being clean for more than a year had "gotten back into dabbling with some drugs unfortunately."

Since the accident, Hedrick said he hasn't touched alcohol or drugs. "It was sort of a wake-up call," he said.

Following the wreck, Hedrick told an investigating Virginia State Police trooper that he consumed alcohol prior to driving, according to search warrant affidavits filed Wednesday in Gloucester County Circuit Court. Hedrick, who suffered only minor injuries, told the trooper he did not remember the crash.

Records from Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport Newsrevealed the presence of cocaine, opiates and marijuana, according to a criminal complaint in Gloucester General District Court.

Hedrick was arrested and jailed on Friday at 5:25 p.m., those court records show. He was released from the Gloucester County Jail that same night at 9:11 p.m. on a $10,000 bond, with the only restriction being that he not leave Virginia, court records show.

Under the category of bail determinations on his jail release document, Magistrate E.B. Rondomanski noted that Hedrick is "deeply in remorse for family because of accident. Isn't going to run and hide." Rondomanski also noted that Hedrick had no prior failure to appear convictions for court proceedings.

A message left for Rondomanski was not returned.

Gloucester Commonwealth's Attorney Holly Smith said she is not consulted for bond hearings conducted by a magistrate and had no say in Hedrick's release from jail.

Hedrick was arrested in 2009 on charges of cocaine and heroin possession after he was pulled over in his vehicle and a search turned up 6.3 grams of heroin, a beer can smoking device, cocaine residue and a knife, according to court documents.

In 2010, Hedrick pleaded guilty to the heroin possession charge and the cocaine possession charge was dismissed. He was ordered to complete drug treatment, finish 100 hours of community service and had his driver's license suspended for six months.